Built on shaky ground

“Earthquake Sun,” a new play written and directed by Luis Valdez, takes a love story from an 8th century Mayan civilization to a 34th century world, but the journey is too jumbled and episodic to be satisfying.

Valdez, founder of El Teatro Campesino, has built an illustrious reputation with plays such as “Zoot Suit” and “I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges,” spotlighting Latino culture and often using the technique of magical realism. In “Earthquake,” being given its premiere by San Diego Repertory Theatre, he’s added elements of science fiction, and the melange hasn’t blended yet.

Three sequences depict the central lovers: in a pre-Columbian Montague-Capulet dilemma, in a present-time illegal-immigration drama and in a futuristic battle of the sexes via a deadly game. Through it all -- like the mysterious obelisk in “2001: A Space Odyssey” -- travels a rubber ball containing a skull. Whose skull it is, like so many aspects of the play, is confusing, especially in the cloning-dominated revelations of the final segment.

The object is a remnant from a Mayan game called “pitz ball” and figures prominently in the past and future tales. In the middle one, however, the reason for its inclusion is murky, even as a transition device.

Although Valdez has wisely included a character who acts as a guide to the young man -- providing explanations to the audience and explaining the title as part of a Mayan prophecy -- the pace of events plus the usual inconsistencies in developments involving magic, mysticism and visions of the future often bring befuddlement.

Since each incarnation gives the characters different names and offers only a glimpse into their lives, caring about their assorted plights is difficult. The variations of the multiple roles are capably handled by a cast of five, aided by a four-person ensemble.

As the lovers, Daniel Rangel and Sandra Ruiz are earnest, eager and adept at the physical demands of the climactic ballgame, a highlight of the movement coaching by John Malashock. Ruiz, in a true example of the “no business like show business” phenomenon, moved into her role from the ensemble just before the play opened when the original cast member bowed out because of a family emergency.

Monica Sanchez and Kinan Valdez provide solid support as parental authority figures, and Linda Castro has a lot of fun with the role of the old soothsayer, wielding magic with what looks like a scaled-down lamppost. Janel DeGuzman, Jeremiah M. Maestas, Arturo Medina and Melanie Anne Marsh assist as everything from soldiers to “sex police.”

The show looks marvelous. Giulio Cesare Perrone’s impressive set design is dominated by Mayan-temple stone walls and a time-travel tube that encloses a platform atop a twinkling DNA double-helix, part of Jennifer Setlow’s ingenious lighting.

Perrone also does the delightfully appropriate costumes, including royal garb festooned with computer motherboards, and Paul Peterson’s sound design underscores the various epochs.

Amid all the show and tell, Valdez supplies a good story or two. With some judicious rewriting, cutting and clarifying, “Earthquake Sun” could shine.

*

‘Earthquake Sun’

Where: San Diego Repertory Theatre at the Lyceum, 79 Horton Plaza, San Diego

When: Tuesdays, 7 p.m.; Wednesdays to Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m.

Ends: May 16

Price: $25.50-$42.50

Contact: (619) 544-1000

Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes